Police have identified two people who may have been involved in what they call a random and unprovoked shooting in White River Junction, Vt.

The incident happened outside the Tuckerbox coffee shop at about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday.

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Lucas Dennis-DeVries, 26, of Hartford, Vt., was walking home from work on South Main Street when he said he gave a man a friendly nod, police said. A few seconds later, the man shot him with a handgun from behind.

Chris Reilly, a co-owner at C.J.’s at Than Wheeler’s, said he was outside with some customers when they heard the gunshot.

“By the time we got to him he was on the ground,” Reilly said. “One of the girls happened to be a nurse who was with me and we kind of just looked around to see where the shooter was.”

The man ran away toward Fairview Terrace, just a few blocks away from Main Street.“Either they went into a vehicle, somebody picked them up there, or they ran into a house,” Hartford Police Chief Leonard Roberts said.

Dennis-DeVries was struck by fragments of the bullet which entered through his buttocks and exited through his groin. He is recovering at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. His condition could not be confirmed by hospital officials.

Investigators said there were no other eyewitnesses. The victim said the gunman was wearing a flannel shirt and cargo pants. Dennis-Devries told police the man had a dog, possibly a German Shepherd.

The two persons-of-interest do not know each other and there could be additional suspects, Leonard said.

With a motive unclear, Roberts simply said, “[The suspect] may have thought it was somebody else.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Hartford Police at (802) 295-9425.